First Legge: The waiting game.

Well, that's Christmas and New Year done and dusted - although I am still waiting for the present I wanted most this year.

The last time I wrote, I was preparing for my second Champ Car test, this time with the PKV team, and possibly the most important two-day session of my life. If I did well, the chance to race Champ Cars in 2006 would be mine, if not, then at least I had the safety net of another year in Formula Atlantic to fall back on.

Fortunately, to my mind at least, the test went really well. I had a fantastic couple of days, as the team was massively professional and very helpful. If nothing else, it was an experience and, with two full days in a Champ Car and 250 laps later, I feel a lot more comfortable [in the car].

Of course, the test with Rocketsports was fantastic for me because it gave me a look at what was going to happen the following week. That was invaluable, as it helped a lot with the way I prepared for the PKV test, which was a lot more serious. I could use the Rocketsports test was to get used to the car, and the Sebring track, with no pressure, but, with PKV, I went through the same rigmarole as Ryan Briscoe, Giorgio Pantano and Ryan Dalziel. It was a real structured test, where we made some changes, but basically worked through the same list that they had worked with. I'd come in and do different length runs, that sort of thing, but it was very professional and very serious, which was a good thing.

I felt a lot of pressure to repeat the impressive performances that the other three had managed the week before. Because there probably wasn't as much rubber down because I was the only one out on the track, I had a lot to achieve to be as good as their times, but nobody likes to be slow. I still viewed it as going there to do my best and, at the end, I was very pleased with my times. Kevin Kalkhoven had suggested that I needed to be in the 51.5s - saying that if I wasn't there or thereabouts, there was no point taking things further - which added to the pressure, but I rose to the challenge.

I just did my best, went out there and drove as well as I could have driven, but I pushed hard for the times, because I knew that, if I was to be considered for the drive, I had to be as good as the boys - there's no way I'm going to get an easy ride just because I'm female and good for PR, unfortunately!

Jimmy Vasser was a fantastic mentor over the two days, and he continues to be, just like he was last year in the Atlantic series. He's got so much experience that it's an invaluable resource to call upon. He knew what I was trying to say to the engineers because he's been there before and, if I wasn't quite putting it the right way sometimes, it was like having a buffer that knew what it was like from a driving perspective. I was driving his car so it was nice to have him there and have his support.

Like I said, I feel, in myself, that it went really well, and waiting has been difficult - I keep wanting to nag Kevin about what I will be doing. But the team is going to sit down, evaluate everybody's data, look at their good points and bad points and then make a decision from there. I even think they're testing more drivers, so it could be that it's nobody from the tests before Christmas and two people who we've not even seen yet who get the drives.

I'm not sure what the situation regarding sponsorship is and, until the team decides what it is doing, that won't become clear, but I'm sure that it will be selection by merit and then find the money after that. I'm sure that we will be able to find sponsorship, purely because I have a unique selling point now. Being female has gone against me in the past, so I'm going to use it to my advantage when it comes to finding money. However, I'm guessing that that won't be the sole determining factor in deciding who gets the drive, because I think PKV wants to get the best drivers it can to move the team forward ahead of 2007, when everyone wants to be at the top of their game.

It was kind of hard having to wait over Christmas, but I'm in a fortunate position that I know I'll be doing something this year - if it's not Champ Car, it'll be Atlantics, and not many people can say they have that sort of deal to fall back on. It's a good feeling but, obviously, I want to know what I am doing...

I went away over the Christmas and New Year period, mainly because I didn't have a break last year, and it was nice to go skiing, get away from it all and come back refreshed. Now, I'm ready to get up and at them and fight in 2006.

I also popped in to the Autosport International show in the UK at the end of my holiday because I had a few loose ends to tie up and a few people to see. I had to pick up my new race helmet, and my other half was there too, so it was nice to come over and see everybody. It's going to be a hard slog training to the start of the new season and it was just nice to see my friends, the people I haven't seen in twelve months.

Hopefully, I will have some good news to report to you the next time I write. Until then, it's just a question of being patient, I guess.....

Speak to you soon,

Katherine